Stripview
-
Description
An explanation of lojban alphabet and the way words are pronounced.
Transcript
ExpandLet's start with the Lojban alphabet.
The table on the right shows the Lojban letters and their name in Lojban. Don't worry if you can't read them yet!
' - .y'y.
, - slaka bu
. - denpa bu
a - .abu
b - by.
c - cy.
d - dy.
e - .ebu
f - fy.
g - gy.
i - .ibu
j - jy.
k - ky.
l - ly.
m - my.
n - ny.
o - .obu
p - py.
r - ry.
s - sy.
t - ty.
u - .ubu
v - vy.
x - xy.
y - .ybu
z - zy.
Lojban has no punctuation marks; the apostrophe, the comma and the dot are considered letters.
It uses almost the same letters
as the English alphabet: the letters h, q and w are missing. Only lower case letters are used.
How difficult is to speak and understand spoken Lojban?
As for any other language, it will require some time and practice ...
... but Lojban make it easier by having a direct correspondance between letters and sounds.
letters
You mean there are no different words that just "sounds alike"?
b - bottle
d - dance
f - fall
g - goose
k - keen
l - late
m - move
n - nose
p - power
r - rock
s - sale
t - time
v - voice
z - zinc
b - bottle
d - dance
f - fall
g - goose
k - keen
l - late
m - move
n - nose
p - power
r - rock
s - sail
t - time
v - voice
z - zinc
Some consonants are rather easy. You can use the sound of the same letter in English.
Some other, instead, are pronounced differently.
sounds
Once you get used to it, you will never mistake a word for another.
Exactly! Nothing like "Weather" and "Wether" or "I" and "eye".
The apostrophe,
which is not a consonant, is only used between two vowels and is pronounced as a short aspiration.
c - shirt
j - measure, azure
x - loch Ness
c - irt
j - mea ure, a ure
x - Lo Ness
sh
s
z
ch
' - o o
h
' - o o
Be sure to pronounce vowels and diphtongs very clearly as in the examples.
a - father
e - bet
i - green
o - joke
u - boot
a - father
e - bet
i - green
o - joke
u - boot
ai - high
au - cow
ei - bay
oi - boy
ia - yard
ie - yell
ii - hear ye
io - yogurt
iu - beauty
ua - wander
ue - well
ui - weak
uo - woe
uu - woo
In English, in fact, we often pronunce unstressed vowels in a rather indistinct way using a sound that is called "schwa" (search for "schwa" on the Internet for a better explanation).
y - about
In Lojban the schwa sound is assigned to the letter y which is not considered a consonant nor a vowel.
y - about
The two remaining letters have no sound associated.
The comma is used to separate syllables ...
... and the dot to mark an explicit pause.
We are almost done!
Remember that Lojban words are always stressed on the penultimate syllable and you will be able to ready any Lojban text.
Wow! How do you
say "thanks" in Lojban ?
{ki'e}
ki'e
ki'enai
160
Lojban alphabet
160
